Dive Brief:
- The Department of Transportation launched a partnership with 18 state attorneys general to crack down on airlines that violate consumer protection laws, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced in Denver Tuesday alongside Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser.
- The Airline Passenger Protection Partnership gives more power to state attorneys general to investigate bad behavior, such as failing to provide refunds for canceled flights. A fast-track system will prioritize the airline misconduct cases the state attorneys general uncover, and the partnership will grant state attorneys general access to a federal complaint database.
- Consumer complaints about flight disruptions, airlines failing to offer refunds for canceled flights, lost and delayed baggage and the like are at an all-time high, according to the DOT.
Dive Insight:
Airlines must uphold their commitments to customers, whether that’s for family-seating arrangements or rebooking flights at no additional cost, the DOT says, or the agency will hold airlines accountable.
The DOT isn’t the only department investigating airline misconduct. On the state level, attorneys general are the chief consumer protection enforcers, but federal law places airline consumer protection with the DOT, hampering state action — airlines are not required to respond to state attorneys general’s inquiries.
But the DOT’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection can only do so much to investigate and penalize airlines with its staff of just 40 people.
The partnership seeks to coordinate investigations by state attorney generals and the DOT and pool resources, according to the DOT. It incentivizes airlines to respond to state attorneys general; allows state attorneys general to make preliminary determinations about violations of consumer protection regulations; and creates a formal mechanism for states to report airline misconduct to DOT and then prioritizes those cases.
“Consumers deserve to be treated fairly, know what they’re getting and get everything they pay for when they fly,” Weiser said in a prepared statement. “This agreement and partnership with the DOT will allow my office to directly serve Colorado consumers when they file complaints about unfair or deceptive airline business practices and creates a process to ensure DOT prioritizes complaints we refer.”
The partnership extends to attorneys general from California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New York, New Hampshire, North Carolina, the Northern Mariana Islands, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, the United States Virgin Islands and Wisconsin. Seven other states have expressed interest in joining, the DOT said.
The partnership follows a slew of consumer protection initiatives by DOT. In March, DOT announced that it would review how airlines collect, handle, maintain and use customers’ personal data and request airlines provide any complaints of data privacy violations.
